Carrots, Green Beans, and Oatmeal Oh My!

Ethan has been working on eating more solid foods since he was about 5 months old. He has been having rice cereal in his milk since he was a month old, so trying it with a spoon was just for more practice. He spit out the rice cereal each time which is the normal baby reflex thing to do. We tried again a couple of weeks later with the same result. Since then, he has tried carrots, green beans, and is now trying oatmeal. Each time he tries something new, he tries it for 3-5 days to test for any allergic reaction. So far, so good.

The actual eating and swallowing still remain an issue though. A lot of the food ends up on his face, hands, cloths, and anything else that happens to be around. The Pediatrician said that if he gets any in his mouth, then that is enough to test for allergies. The Physical Therapist, Suzy, thinks Ethan is doing well with his feeding, though she doesn't believe that he is ready for solids to be his staple. We will continue to work on impoving his coordination with his tongue, lips, and swallowing. She suggested making eating fun and let him play with some on his tray while we are all eating. We tried that tonight and he had a blast. Carrots were everywhere!!! A bath was in order afterwards. Ethan also likes to play with his spoon. He can grab it and put it in his mouth very well now.

On another note, I tried to schedule his macrostomia repair surgery today (again for the third or forth time) and the May surgery calendar still hasn't come available yet. I'm was told to call again tomorrow.

-Dina